


April 4

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode: s02e18 17 People, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-29
Updated: 2005-07-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 11:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15095975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Josh and Donna's first "anniversary" nottogether (well, that we know of).





	April 4

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**April 4**

**by:** Lauren 

**Character(s):** Josh, Donna, a bit of Matt Santos  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Category(s):** Romance, Challenge  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Summary:** Josh and Donna's first "anniversary" not together (well, that we know of).  
**Spoiler:**  
 _17 People_ **Author's Note:** Notes: This is in response to a challenge we got eons ago. 17 People aired on April 4th, so claiming that as the official anniversary, this is the first time J/D aren't together for it.  I thought it was a terrific idea, and since no one else tried their hat at it, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Canon timeline might be a little tricky, but I think everyone should follow easily. If not, I take creative license. 

This is my very first fic, so be gentle. No beta, so forgive any errors.  I have been writing this on and off for about a month during and in between classes. But I am just now getting around to posting it now that I am with the semester!!

Enough rambling, on with the show.  I hope you like it.

April 4

Chapter 1

I’ve known this day was coming.  I’ve known it, well, since last year.  But rewind 10 ½ months ago and I would’ve thought this day would be different than the other five times we’ve celebrated.  But I didn’t think that we would be celebrating this year.  Well, that really is no different than what I’m doing today.  But the reason behind not celebrating would’ve been at the other end of the spectrum.  We wouldn’t have been celebrating this year because we would have a _new_ anniversary, a new reason to celebrate the other 364 days of the year.  We would be making every day a day to remember.

Of course, now that I think about it, we probably would have celebrated today.  She’d probably be upset if I forgot.  She says she hates this day, but that’s just her tough-girl act to keep me in check.  She thinks if I think she likes it, I’d stop.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  It’s our first anniversary.  We could never forget the day of red light disclosure.  Red lights.  I finally understand the strength of that statement.  They couldn’t stop me from Germany, from that OR.

But somewhere between then and now we’ve lost whatever it is, was, that made this day magical.  That made it us.  Now we won’t celebrate it because that Josh and Donna is not who we are anymore.  Still working the campaign trail, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.  There is so much missing this time.  The biggest is one Donnatella Moss from Madison, Wisconsin.

I thought I knew what missing her was like in those few weeks she left.  Funny that now I can categorize them as few, when back then it felt like infinite weeks.  But now we’re going on month four since she left me for good.  Whether it was the job or me that she left is debatable, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not here.  With me.  Ugh.  This campaign would be so different with her here.  I wouldn’t be as stressed or moody.  I’d be eating right…well, better.  And while I’d still be tired, because of her, it wouldn’t be because I stayed up at night thinking of her.  Rather, she’d be here.  With me.  In bed.

These are the thoughts that have been traipsing through my head all day.  The reason I didn’t want to get up and face the day.  Just sleep it away.  But we’ve got a nomination to win.  In between the shaking hands and kissing babies I found moments (not by choice) to think about her.  Us. And how something so good went so wrong right in front of our eyes.

We’re in Portland, getting ready for the Oregon primary and the final swing.  I am actually pleased that we’re not in D.C.  I wouldn’t be able to handle all the reminders of her in my place and in our city.  The couch we would work at, the pictures of us and the original Bartlet crew, the streets we’ve walked, the little Italian place on the corner of my street that I always envisioned our first date.  If I was stuck in D.C., I would be forced to abuse my system.

So instead of drowning my sorrows with my good friend Jack, the Congressman and I are walking into our hotel lobby after a fundraiser.  I’m exhausted from running around all day and from my mind working on overdrive to avoid thinking about her.  It’s been doing that a lot lately.  If I’m busy enough, I don’t mind so much.  It’s when I’m motionless, without a task that I replay every minute of our roller coaster relationship.  But today is different.

We enter the door with the Congressman singing _Oklahoma!_ to me.  He eggs me on to join his twisted song and dance.  As I open my mouth to question his love for show tunes, I freeze.  Ado Annie.  Sitting on the couch to the left of the front desk.  

                         

Chapter 2

She doesn’t see us, as her full undivided attention is on the floral carpet under her feet.  She’s unconsciously biting the end of her thumb.  She does this when she’s nervously waiting for something.  It’s more fidgety than anything; something for her to do.  But it’s something I’ve noticed nonetheless.  I’m glad it’s a habit she hasn’t lost and that I haven’t forgotten.

Matt has realized I am still two steps behind him and have yet to make a crack about his musical taste.

“Josh.”

My head stays still, eyes locked on this fish out of water sight.  Hearing Matt say my name causes her to look up.

“Yeah?”

“Uh…” He follows my unwavering sight line and gets it.  He knows, somehow without us ever really talking about it, what the elephant in the room of my head has been this entire time we’ve known each other.  I’m sure he’s noticed my longing looks at her at different events; it’s hard for me to be discreet.  There’s the picture I keep of us in my wallet that, chance are, he’s seen me stare at with a feeling of loneliness and emptiness late nights on the bus when I thought everyone was asleep.

I glance over at him and I see him studying me.  I’m not sure what he’s thinking about me and this girl.  And for once I don’t care.

“Uh-oh, what did you do?”

“What?”

He tilts his head in her direction.  “Donna Moss.  You must have done something for her to come all the way across town to our hotel at this time of night.”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking the same thing.”

“You have no idea?”

“No idea.”

“Yikes.  Mmmkay, well, good work today.  I’m gonna go call Helen and the kids.”

“Okay.  Goodnight Congressman.”

I watch as he walks towards the elevator.  Mostly because I’m trying to figure out why she’s here and what I’m supposed to do next.  I hate that she makes me uneasy.  I rack my brain over everything I did in the past 48 hours and beyond that would have pissed her off enough to come 47 miles out of her way at 10:30 at night.  The Russell campaign is supposed to be in Salem the next few days meeting with the governor and state legislators.

Of course, as luck would have it, Donna is sitting in the direct path of the elevator.  Matt leans over and whispers something in her ear.  She lets out a soft chuckle and nods her head.  He says something else and her smile reaches her eyes.  It’s the first time I’ve seen that in months.  And I remember why I beat myself up every night for losing her.  For not calling, for not making any declarations, for getting stuck in the same patterns day after day, month after month.

Matt turns around, gives me a pointed look that I’m clueless over, and saunters over to the elevator, whistling his tune.  Remind me why I picked this guy again?  I’m left staring at her with no other distractions around.  The place is empty.  I guess now would be the time to make my way over to her.  My mind is scrambling.  As has become a common theme around her lately, I don’t know what to say.  So I decide to put my Harvard and Yale educated brain to good use.

“Hey.”  My parents would be so proud of their money well spent.

“Hi,” she responds, a little uneasily.  That makes me nervous.  If she was angry with me, she would be anything but timid.  Maybe it isn’t me that she’s pissed with.  Maybe something has happened to her.

“Is everything okay?  Are you alright?”  My concern seems to relax her a teeny bit as she lets a small grin slip.

“Yeah, Josh.  I’m fine.”

“Good, that’s good.  You look good.”  Small talk has never really been my forte.

She gives a small shake of her head.

“What?  You aren’t going to reciprocate the compliment?” I jokingly reply, for if I look how I feel, no one could say it with a straight face.

“Well, my mother taught me not to lie.  But if it helps, you don’t look as ghastly as I expected.”

“Oh, well, that’s better than a compliment,” I say with a half smile.

She glances back at me before focusing on her shoes and starts biting that damn thumb again.  She had stopped when Matt walked over to her.

“Donna,” I prod her.

She looks up with her eyes, but her head doesn’t budge.  I take a real close look at her and don’t like what I see.  She looks exhausted.  And not just, I’ve-eaten-crap-for-four-months-and-just-want-to-sleep-for-32-hours exhausted, either.

“What are you doing here?”  I don’t say it with accusation, just with a little wonder in my voice. My worry is starting to make its way up my body again.  Why is she here?

“What? I can’t stop by and see you?”

“No, of course you can. You just never have before and I’m not exactly across the street.”

“Well, first time for everything.”

“Donna.”

“Josh.” Great, I’m talking to a parrot.  I realize this may be awhile so I literally plop down next to her on the couch.

“Are you sure you’re fine?  Your aloofness is kinda freaking me out.”

“I’ve always freaked you out.”

“Yeah, well I’m a little out of practice.”  With that, she rolls her eyes at me.  Now this is getting a little crazy, so I try again.

 “What are you doing here?”

“You don’t stop do you?” she questions as she shifts a little away from me on the couch.

“Well can you blame me?  You show up at my hotel, which is more than half an hour away from yours by the way, and you are just sitting here and not you-like and I have a million and one thoughts running through my head, filling up with all these awful scenarios about why you would come see me at quarter to eleven on a Monday night on the trail.  So I’m sorry if my simple, basic, understandable question perturbs you.”

“Feel better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Sure thing.” 

Her snippy tone is reminiscent of the moths after Gaza.  This time I’ve had enough and I’m not going to just ignore it and let her get away with it.

“Are you going to make me ask again?”

“If you could guarantee me another outburst like that, we might have something to negotiate.”

“Don-na…”  I tilt my head and look at her intently.  I’m done with the game.  She’s not fooling me.

“Jo-osh.” She replies and mirrors my image.  When she makes my name into two syllables, I know the fight is on.

“What…are…”

“I don’t know!”  She spits it out, unable to hold it in any longer.

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

Well I wasn’t expecting that.

Chapter 3

“I didn’t do anything to piss you off?  You aren’t here to hit me or punish me or make my life hell?”

“I’m not your assistant anymore; I no longer have that kind of power.”

“Oh, you’ll always have that power.”  Oops.  That’s a declaration of sorts.  Move fast, think of something.

“You wanna go somewhere and talk?”  She beats me to it.

“As opposed to what we’re doing now?”

“As opposed to being in a hotel lobby and an uncomfortable couch.”

“As opposed to going someplace without witnesses?”

“I’m not going to hurt you Josh.”

“Just checking.”

“So…”

“Yeah, we can go wherever you want.”  I hop on my feet with energy I didn’t know was left in my body and I offer my hand to help her up.

“Bar?” she suggests.

“You’re gonna let me drink?”

“It’s time you learned some self-control.  But it’s nice to know you’ve finally agreed with my diagnosis.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Bar it is.”

We cross to the other side of the lobby to the dim lit bar.  My hand immediately goes to rest on the small of her back, but I quickly move it back before contact is made.  We aren’t those people anymore.  There are just a few others seated at the bar and she leads the way to the end to a little more secluded spot.

“The usual?” I ask.

“Sure,” she says with a little nod.  Her fingers are starting to move a bit and I can tell she’s getting ready to start chomping.  She keeps them on the counter, but they are wrestling with each other with some serious nervous energy.  I want so badly to place my hands on top of them to calm her down.  But I’m not sure how that would go over at the moment.  So I just motion for the bartender and he quickly brings the whiskey sour and beer.  I drop down a twenty and swivel my stool in her direction.  We both take a sip, letting the cool liquids calm our nerves.

“So, come any closer to an answer that fits your intellectual level?”

She takes a deep breath and another sip.  “It’s so girly.”

“Well, that good, ‘cause you’re a girl.”

“Yeah.”  Another drink.

“How’s your mom?”

”She’d be impressed with your subject changing skills, that’s for sure.”  I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and a little more time.  “She’s doing well.  I’ll tell her you asked.”

“Good.”

I take another swig of my beer and straighten myself out.  “Okay, well when you’re ready, you just let me know.” I nudge her a bit when I continue. “Because remember, you’re the one who wanted to do this.”

“I miss you.”

Boom.  No  pause, no hesitation, she just comes out with it.  If we weren’t secluded from the noise at the other end of the room, I doubt I would have heard those words.  Those exact words that I’ve been uttering to myself every night since Christmas Eve in Houston.  I move my head over to look at her and one glimpse of her eyes that are starting to pool with tears has my heart breaking.

“Yeah?”

She nods emphatically, not trusting her voice at the moment.

“Well, good, ‘cause I miss you, too.”

“You’re not just saying it because you feel awkward and like you’re obligated to reciprocate?”

“No, I never feel awkward next to you.”

Her brow furrows and she asks in disbelief,  “Have you been participating in this conversation?”

“Oh, that was just us getting the rust off.”  I look into her eyes once again and do the first thing that comes to my mind.  One of the many things I wanted to do since I saw her sitting there on that couch.

“C’mere,” I say and I pull her into a hug and we both take huge breaths, relaxing for the first time tonight.

And I fully relax for the first time in 102 days and shoot a quick thank you up to God for bringing her here tonight.  After a couple minutes of us just sitting together, holding on for dear life, I release her.  I get up and walk over to a table behind us and grab a pink rose from the vase centerpiece.  I step back to our position at the bar and give her the flower and a friendly (are we back there yet?) peck on the check as I whisper, “Happy Anniversary.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but her sad smile was not it.  “It’s not our anniversary.”

Now I’m even more confused.

Chapter 4

“You bet it is.” 

 “No it really isn’t.” Is she being cute Donna or is she being serious here?

“Yes.  April 4th.  You came back on April 4th.  Today is April 4th.”

“Yes, it’s April 4th, but it is not our anniversary.”

What the hell?

“Donna—”

“Josh,” she starts quietly.  “I don’t work for you anymore.  I left.  Again.  For different reasons, very different reasons, but I left.  I just don’t know why…are you mocking me or something?  Is this some quirky ploy to get at me?”

“God no, Donna.  It’s…I don’t know how to say this.  But believe me it’s not a ploy.  And it wasn’t done to make you upset.  They are flowers to mark an occasion.”  Man, I am screwing this up royally.

“Why would you mark the occasion?  We aren’t those people anymore.  How do you even remember this?”

“Because it’s all I’ve been thinking about all day.  All day I’ve been reliving our entire relationship.  And I’ve been beating myself up at how screwed up I’ve let us get. I was an ass and you aren’t here and it sucks. I was serious when I said I missed you.”

“You didn’t screw it up.  I played my part.”

“But you’re not denying I was an ass?” I smirk.

“No, I told you I was taught not to lie.”

“Fair enough.  But you can’t tell me I can’t celebrate this day.  I mean, I wish this wasn’t all we had to celebrate, but this is us.  This is what we do.  And I’m just trying to show you that I’m sorry and that my life has been a mess since you’ve been gone.  I have a feeling you’ve been thinking about it, too.”

I finally see my opening and I grab her hands to settle them.  They calm and she looks up at me and her eyes make strong contact with mine.  “Why do you think I’m here?”

“Uncover campaign secrets?”  And the eye contact breaks as I get a good ol’ fashioned eye roll.  She straightens up a bit and stares those gorgeous blue eyes right into mine.

“No, because you’re all I’ve been thinking about all day.  And how I finally couldn’t take it any longer, so I grabbed a cab and came here because I couldn’t let this day pass without seeing you.  Really seeing you.  Because I feel really bad about how we’ve left things.  And that I can’t believe I just let you down again.”

“What do you mean?”

“I left! Again!”

“Maybe, but you came back!  You’re here now.  And that’s the basis of the anniversary anyway, remember?”

There’s a pause as she thinks this through.

“You remembered it, huh?”

“How could I forget?”

“I would’ve thought you’d try to block it from your mind.”

“Oh contraire.  I spent all day dreaming of ways that we could do this.  Be together.  But I never would have thought it would happen.  And then out of nowhere, here you come.  I just thought it’d be nice. If you don’t want it, I can put it back.”

“No, don’t even think about it.  Actually, if you don’t mind, during your little ramble there I thought we could change things up a bit.”

Hmm, that’s an intriguing thought.

“How do you mean?”

“Maybe make it less of a professional holiday…”

“And more personal?”

She nods.

“If you would’ve asked me that ten months ago, I would have thought you were crazy.”

Her face crushes in confusion and I realize that might not have been the best way to go about this and I quickly recover.  “Because we wouldn’t have needed to share this day with the other one.  We would have had a brand new day to celebrate the personal thing.”

“Oh yeah?”

I nod and thankfully her spirits are back and I know I haven’t screwed up too badly.

“I don’t think the old Josh and Donna would mind if we pushed them aside.  Because the principle of the day is still there.”

“What’s that?” I say, just wanting to hear her say the words herself.

“I came back.”

“Yes, you most certainly did,” I say with a big, dimpled grin.  “But maybe we shouldn’t completely forget about the old one.”

“Why?”

“So we can have a reminder of how far we’ve come from ‘there’s a pile of stuff on the desk.’”

“That might me nice,” she says as she puts her head on my shoulder and I wrap an arm around her.

“Want another drink?” I ask.

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Yeah, me too,” I say and kiss the top of her head.

 “Hey Donna,” I curiously start once we’ve had a moment to collect ourselves.

“Yeah?”

“What did the Congressman say to you before he went to the elevator?”

“How long have you been waiting to ask me that?”

“I honestly just remembered.  I was a little preoccupied to worry at the time.”

“Well you have no need to worry.  He was very sweet.”

“I know he got you to smile. What’d he say?”

“To let him know if you gave me any trouble and he would find proper retribution.”

“Nice.  Good to know who side he’s on.”

“Well he knows you better than you think.  He also said to take it easy on you because you’ve been pretty miserable today.”

“That was you going easy on me?”

“Yes.”

“Well then thank you Matt Santos.”

I give her another squeeze and take the final swig of my beer that has moved to room temperature.

“Josh?”  

“Mmhmm,” I mumble out as I close my eyes and rest my head on top of hers.

“What else were you thinking ten months ago?” It amazes me how quickly we can just transform into “us” after having nothing more than civil conversations towards each other for months.  I don’t know how we do it, but it works and I don’t question it.

“That red lights were no obstacle.  And I thought about today, and how easy those weeks without you would seem compared to a lifetime without you.”

“I know what you mean.”

We sit there in silence again.  I get lost in thought over how lucky we are that both of us not just cheated death, but that we were given yet another chance to get things right.  It’s time we stop taking this thing we have for granted.  We’ve come too close too many times to losing it.  I’m not sure how many other chances we can hope for.

“Thank you, Josh.” Thank me?

“For what?”

“For being there when I woke up.  I was just thinking about it and realized I never thanked you for that.  For calming my fears before the surgery, for coming without hesitation.”

“I wouldn’t have been anywhere else.  I couldn’t. Leo practically kicked me out.  But you don’t have to thank me.  I was just repaying the debt.”

I feel her take a big, deep breath.  God this feels good.  I can’t remember the last time we’ve had this kind of contact—both physically and emotionally.  Germany? Not really.  She was on a million meds and in pain and I didn’t get to stay as long as I wanted.  Has there been anything since the second Inauguration?  My God, that’s like three and a half years ago!  Ugh.  Oh.  This hurts my head.  Enough living in the past.  What’s done is done; it’s time to move forward.

She has the cutest, faraway glance going on right now.  “Whatcha thinking?”

She sighs.  “Oh, everything.  What happened to us, how we got here…”

“Are you just thinking or do you really want answers?”

“I’m afraid of what the answers might be.”

“You want sarcastic or serious answers?”

She lifts her head up. “What do you think?”

My response is to chuckle at her raised brows and tell her, “I didn’t know if you wanted to continue this banter thing we’ve been bringing for a little while longer, or…OW!” She just jabbed me in the stomach!

“Way to ruin the moment, Donna.”  I pause and think about the questions she posed and my head starts throbbing from overanalyzing again.  “I don’t know.”

“Well I guess I’ll just wait ‘til I get an answer suitable for your age level.”

“Ha, ha.  I’m not dodging the question like someone I know did.  I really don’t know.  I think that whatever it was that happened was probably necessary.  We were so unbelievably stuck in some weird, twisted trap that nothing could break us out of it.  Not misdirection, not how much we may have wanted something else, not even two near death experiences.  We needed a drastic change and we got it.”

“We were a little delusional, weren’t we?”

“Eh, we were us.  It’s what we had to do.  Or at least what we needed to do.  For the President, maybe even for us.  We weren’t ready then.  There was too much going on for us to tackle whatever it was that we would have had.”

“You really believe that?”

“Well, it’s what I’ve been telling myself for the last 102 days, so yeah, I’ve kinda come to believe it.”

“What was 102 days ago?”

“Christmas Eve.”

“Oh,” is all she replies and she ever so subtly takes her hand away from mine and shifts a little away from me.  I feel cold without her heat right next to me.  And after everything that has been said tonight, I may have just crossed the line into speaking of the thing we do not speak of.  I fear we may be back to square one.

Chapter 5

But I guess it’s time to lay it all out there if we really want to do this (whatever “this” is) right.

I look directly into her eyes and speak softly to her, in the most seriously sincere voice I can conjure up.

“Donna, I’m sorry if I held you back.  It was for purely selfish reasons and I--”

“Do you really want to start this discussion, too?”  She cuts me off, but her voice is not harsh or bitter.

“I don’t know.  I think it’s a long time coming.   I don’t know how we tackle one without the other.”

“Yeah, I get that, I just don’t want to ruin this day and what we’ve already fixed by delving into such treacherous waters.”

“That’s okay.  If you want to put this particular subject matter on the back burner, we’ll leave it.”

“I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea.  I’m not trying to forget about it, Josh.  We need to talk about it, I just--”

“I don’t have the wrong idea.  I get it.” I give her hand a little squeeze for reassurance.

“Even we can talk too much.”

“I agree.”

The second those words are out of my mouth I see her covering her own ever so discreetly, trying to cover up her yawn.

“I saw that, Ms. Moss.  It is getting pretty late.”

“Yeah, I guess I should head back.”

“If you want, you can…” I’m not sure whether or not my offer would be the greatest idea, but that’s why I’m praying her judgment is still better than mine.

“I should go.  Thank you though.”

“Do you need me to call you a cab or something?”

“Nah, I forcefully borrowed, well stole, a car from one of the volunteers, so I’m good to go.  Thanks for the drink, too.”

“Anytime.”

We start turning towards the door when I notice something out of the corner of my eye.

“Oh, you can’t forget the flower!” I reach behind her, grab it and point it in her direction to take.

“I’m not gonna take the rose, Josh.”  She’s acting like this is the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.  She must briefly be forgetting who she’s working for.

“Well why not?”

“Because it’s part of the centerpiece.  And it belongs to the hotel.”

“They won’t care.”

“Josh--”

“Donnatella, take it.  To remember today.  Tonight.”

A wistful smile spreads across her face and she grabs the rose from my hand.

“I was wondering if you were going to call me that again.”

“Well, I was trying to save it for a special time or moment, but you forced me to pull out the good stuff.”

I grab her hand and we walk through the lobby and out the door.  She leads me to the car.  I don’t mind following a bit.  I’m trying to prolong this goodbye in any manner possible.  She stops in front of a blue Chevy Cavalier.  And we just look at each other.

I realize I have no idea how to tell her goodbye.  Our conversations of late have been just past civil and never really requiring proper goodbyes.

“Thank you for coming back.”

“Thank you for taking me back.”

“There was never a hesitation or doubt in my mind.”

I just stare at her lips.  Lips I long to get well acquainted with.

“You know for wanting to tweak this day’s significance, not much has really been tweaked.”

I love it when we’re on the same page.  I raise an eyebrow at her.  “No?”

She gets a mischievous grin.  “Nope,” she simply says.

“Well, we can’t let that happen.  It just wouldn’t be right.”

As I bring the dimples out in full force, she bites her lip.  I reach my right hand up to her face and put my finger on her mouth to cease the gnawing.  She stops and I move my hand to cup her face, my left hand still entwined with her right.

I pull her a little closer and cock my head to the left and gently whisper, “You sure about the tweakage?”

This gets her to smile and part her lips just perfectly enough for me to mold mine into hers.  She releases my hand and moves it to the back of my neck and into my hair, massaging my scalp.  Man, I’ve missed out on a lot in nine years.

We simultaneously moan a bit which causes identical chuckles and breaks up this wonderful first kiss.  I reward our job well-done with one more tender kiss on her lips and then rest my forehead against hers.

“You were definitely worth the wait,” I whisper as we just stand wrapped up in one another on this cool spring night.

Church bells across the street ring, signaling that midnight is upon us.  A new day.  This startles us out of our moment.  We part and I reach behind her and open the door for her.

Her face has now contorted into a pout, a facial expression that tends to leave me utterly powerless.  With one hand on top of the door and the other held in hers, I gaze into her eyes and shake my head.  “Just the beginning.”

The pout doesn’t give in. “Promise?”

I flash back to a year ago, but can now confidently reply, “That is a promise I know I can keep. Now bed for you.”

“Are you going to bed or do you have to meet with the Congressman and work on your two-part harmony?” 

“No, no musical numbers tonight.  But I don’t think I’ll be sleeping.  That’ll mean the night will have ended.”

“You need to get your rest.  There’s plenty more where this came from.  I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”  To the untrained ear, my tone would have seemed to suggest playfulness because of this exact wording a minute earlier.  But I’m still a little skeptic.  I’m still worried this is just a dream or she’ll realize she made a mistake.  And I wonder if, even after all this time, Donna still knows me better than every other person in my life.

“What have I told you? I was raised not to lie.”  Humor.  Well, I can’t blame her for not catching it.  It has been a while.  I must be getting pretty good at covering my emotions.  Before I have a chance to remove my worry-brow, she swoops in and meets my lips.

“I promise, Joshua,” she firmly states and I gather her in my arms for a hug just as firm.

“Goodnight, Donnatella.” 

“G’night Josh,” she whispers into my ear as she leaves a kiss on my cheek.

I give her one last squeeze and release her to get into the driver’s seat.  I close the door and give it one of those taps people always give in the movies.  With that, she gives a little wave and pulls away into the night.  I stand there watching the taillights until she turns at the light, the grin refusing to leave my face.  I saunter back into the hotel and head up to my room.  Wow.  Not exactly how I thought this day would turn out.  To think I would have missed it all if I would’ve stayed in bed all day like I planned.  But I won’t have to worry about that anymore: I now have plenty of reasons to get up in the morning.


End file.
